The numbers were released at the same time as a new poll shows many drivers plan to make significant changes to their routes to avoid the Port Mann, especially once the $1.50 introductory toll rises next year.

But city officials caution it’s still early days, and the true effects of the tolls likely won’t be known for weeks as drivers decide on the fastest, most efficient routes.

“We expect a lot of people will avoid the tolls initially and as they see more congestion on their routes they will switch back,” Surrey transportation manager Jaime Boan said.

The Pattullo’s higher numbers were no surprise, just slightly surpassing initial projections from the Transportation Investment Corp., the Port Mann Bridge operator.

It had suggested traffic would rise about nine per cent, or more than 5,000 vehicles a day, on free alternative crossings over the Fraser River once the tolls came into effect.

TIC spokesman Max Logan acknowledged the number of drivers on the Port Mann Bridge this week is lower than average, with about 100,000 to 110,000 daily compared with the usual 120,000. But he said traffic numbers typically fall during the Christmas period.

“What we’re seeing right now is the numbers this week so far are consistent with what we see historically this time of year and what we would have seen in the week before the (new) bridge opened,” Logan said.

He thinks many drivers are using the Port Mann Bridge during rush hour and considering other routes during the day, which is what was forecast.

By 2021, based on a computer traffic simulation model, the Port Mann Bridge is expected to create a nominal one-per-cent increase in traffic on the Pattullo. The forecast compares the difference had there been no changes on the Port Mann.

The Surrey figures, collected from a manual counter at the end of the bridge, appear to fall in line with the predictions. Boan said the increased Pattullo traffic has led to congestion outside the usual morning and afternoon rush hours.

Before the tolls came into effect, for instance, the highest two-way traffic on the bridge was 5,316 vehicles per hour at 4 p.m., but the traffic still flowed continuously. On Monday, it took only another 40 cars at that hour to bring traffic to a standstill because of the higher number of cars waiting to get onto the bridge.

“In the past, the volume dropped off. We’re still getting big throughput (now) but because you have more traffic arriving, it’s moving slower and slower,” Boan said. “You’ve gone over that tipping point where there’s so much traffic that it comes to a standstill for period of time and you get much more significant delays.”

New Westminster experienced worse congestion than Surrey on Monday, he said, noting just 276 vehicles — or a six-per-cent rise in eastbound traffic — would create a significant backlog in the Royal City.

Radio station News 1130 traffic expert Kim Seale, who’s been reporting from the skies for a decade, said Monday afternoon’s commute was “the worst I’ve seen the Pattullo Bridge, and I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.

“In the afternoon you could see a huge amount of volume at the Pattullo Bridge. And most of that was truck traffic. So you can double to triple what we normally would see on the New Westminster side of the Pattullo Bridge,” she said.

The radio station has received several phone calls from “shocked and angry … furious and frustrated” commuters, she said, and it’s busier everywhere, including the Alex Fraser, Massey Tunnel and Queensborough Bridge.

Part of the problem is the heavy trucks using the crossing, she said. Truckers aren’t eligible for the half-price tolls — unless they travel overnight — and must pay $9 per crossing. This has led to truck traffic congestion on Scott Road, according to Surrey officials, with only one truck at a time able to turn from 128th Street onto King George Boulevard.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said her city will monitor the situation before coming up with recommendations to address traffic patterns around the Pattullo Bridge, the Port Mann and the new South Fraser Perimeter Road.

“It’s causing significant issues for us for sure,” she said. “The trucking industry are trying to move goods across the region and when you’re stuck in a lineup that’s miles long, it’s a cost to business.” But the TIC, which counts cars using registered decals or tracks licence plates, suggests truck traffic has risen slightly on the new Port Mann Bridge.

Louise Yako, president of the B.C. Trucking Association, said it’s too early to draw conclusions, especially until the province completes Highway 1 and the rest of the South Fraser Perimeter Road.

Derek Zabel, spokesman for TransLink, which owns the Pattullo Bridge, noted traffic patterns could also be affected by the fact that drivers who registered for electronic tolling on the Port Mann Bridge have 20 free passes to cross.

TransLink doesn’t expect to know the effect of the tolls on the bridge until mid-January, he said, while New Westminster also plans to keep monitoring traffic at its stations on Royal Avenue and McBride Boulevard.

New Westminster transportation engineer Jerry Behl said it’s too difficult to judge traffic patterns based on one day. “Generally you let things settle down as people are figuring things out,” he said.

Meanwhile, a new Insights West online survey of 583 Metro Vancouver residents conducted Dec. 1- 5 shows residents are quite satisfied with the new bridge, but divided on tolls, with 51 per cent in favour and 45 per cent opposed.

Twenty-six per cent said they plan to seek out new routes, while 33 per cent said they would drive over the bridge less often.

When tolls rise in March, 46 per cent say they will seek out new routes and 33 per cent say they will drive over the bridge less often.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.06 percentage points, shows opposition to the tolls is significant south of the Fraser among bridge users. It runs at 60 per cent among those who use the bridge once a week or more often.

“The issue of tolling seems to have divided Metro Vancouver into two camps – those who are in favour since they don’t drive over the bridge, with the opposition camp being firmly entrenched among drivers who are impacted,” said Steve Mossop, president of Insights West.

“Residents south of the Fraser remain bitterly opposed to the toll, despite being satisfied with the new bridge overall. It will be interesting to see whether drivers follow through with their bridge avoidance plans and we end up with an under-utilized bridge like the Golden Ears while congestions move to the free routes.”

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Drivers head to the Pattullo Bridge as Port Mann tolls kick in (with video)

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